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Thursday, October 15, 2009

TIMETABLE TIGHTENING

With all five committees who have jurisdiction over healthcare having completed work, the task is now for the House and the Senate to each create a merged bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nv.) has stated that the Senate bill could be on the floor on October 26. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) expects his bill shortly after, saying, “I think it would be very doubtful that we would get a vote prior to the first week of November.”

What ends up in the respective bills is unclear as these negotiations take place behind closed-doors. However, there have been indications that House leaders are warming up to the idea of taxing high-cost insurance plans- the one source of funding that would keep pace with the rising resources devoted to health care . For more on this see here.